Big Backwards Post!

I need to play catch-up... so get ready!

We had dinner and s'mores at my mommy's house yesterday, it was great to see my siblings and their kids, feels like it's been awhile! Sadly we missed my biggest sister, she is off on a mountain somewhere having fun, I hope!

S'more preparation...

S'more enjoyment!

My s'more was having issues staying together... I got pretty messy!

Me and my cute hubby!

Baby girl was having a grand time emptying my mom's bottom drawer in the kitchen... she'd pull out one bottle top put it in her mouth, then take it out and put in another one - it had everyone laughing for a long time!

A few weekends ago JJ and I traveled to St George to fit in a vacation before he started school. JJ announced that we'd never live here when the temp gauge said 105!! It was a hot weekend!

Had to cool off with the yogurt from Golden Spoon!!

For JJ's birthday his mom gave him a game called "Polarity" from the ThinkGeek.com website. All the discs are magnetic and the point of the game is to balance a piece in the magnetic field of another piece so that the repelling force keeps it in the air (can you tell JJ helped me write that sentence??). After winning 4 games to JJ's 1 he refused to take anymore pictures of me... The ending score was 6 to 2 :) Who's the nerd now?!

The week before we went to St George, we gathered together at my sister's house to celebrate my Grandma's 75th Birthday!!!

Me & Jayson

Amber, Nate & Kacie

Peyton playing house!

Me & Kacie Bug

I've talked before about the awesome levi quilts my Grandma makes for all of us... My Aunt Tracy was sweet enough to make one for her too. This year we decided to add a little to it... we all have our hand prints on it and she added some Kokopelli fabric to the back (Grandma loves that kinda stuff!).

She also got a new hat...

Lookin' Good Grandma!

Daddy and his girls!

All the events were a lot of fun and I'm sorry I didn't post them sooner! Hopefully I'll be more vigilant in the future :)

All Things JJ!

Happy 25th Birthday Jidge!!! Yes, this post is long overdue... but let's not dwell on how much of a slacker I am... let's look at how cool I am! I mean... let's celebrate my honey!!



I spoiled JJ with 25 presents for his 25th birthday, along with little notes scattered (and some hidden) with 25 reasons why I love him! It was actually really difficult to only choose 25, my list was a lot longer than that!



Because I am my Mother's daughter, I couldn't let him see what was awaiting him... so I rigged up this contraption to hide his presents! :) Thanks mommy!!



My silly little husband was just too excited and covered his eyes while I got everything else ready...



Presents!!!!



Is this True or what?!?!


Thanks to Mom & Art and Amy & Jayson & kids for joining us for his birthday dinner at Red Lobster! I abhor ocean bugs and therefore JJ doesn't get the chance to eat seafood all that often. So, because of this special occasion, I decided to let him consume the nastiness. Now you really know I love him!


After dinner we drove up to Sub Zero - the most awesome ice cream place in all the land!!! There are 5 steps to deliciousness: #1 Pick your size #2 Pick your base (i.e. cream, yogurt, soy, etc) #3 Pick your flavor(s) #4 Pick your mix-ins and finally #5 Watch it Freeze - with LIQUID NITROGEN!!!! This is where JJ's grin was officially plastered to his face, just about the cutest thing ever!!



I know that my ice cream doesn't look very appetizing, but trust me, it was pure heaven. I got Chocolate Mint Oreo, I'm drooling just thinking about it.... JJ got Lime Cherry with citric acid for tartness and strawberries as a mix-in. I wasn't a fan but he was in 3.14159th heaven!



The Whittle family blessed JJ with another one of his favorite past times - lighting things on fire. :)


The next day we had dessert at his mom's house - she decorated too!!



JJ had to showcase all his gifts - he couldn't get over how many things I got him or that I went to all the work I did to put together a special day for him. I love you JJ!!!!!
All of the gifts were things JJ loves...
1. $1 2. $2 3. $3 4. $4 5. $5 6. Silvertoe Socks 7. Silvertoe Socks 8. Polo 9. Polo
10. Postage Stamps 11. Binder Clips 12. Lined Paper 13. Slinky 14. Silly Putty 15. Bubble Gum
16. An eraser that says "For BIG Mistakes" 17. Wall Putty 18. Deodorant 19. Nerd T-shirt
20. Beach Ball & Water Football 21. Batteries 22. Dan Brown's Lost Symbol 23. Nutella
24. Fireflight CD and #25 Season 2 of Big Bang Theory.




Now a 2nd little post about JJ -
August 4th was JJ's last day at Salt Lake Community College!!! He has graduate with his Associate of Science Degree!!! Woot!! He didn't think it was a big deal, but of course I did, so I had to decorate & celebrate!





CongratUlations JJ for being accepted to the University of Utah!!!





He was VERY surprised and couldn't stop laughing at me for going so overboard. I love you to pieces Jidge, and I'm oh so very proud of you, all your hard work and all that you've accomplished! I love you!

The Rodeo Weekend

Every year my family loads up trailers, cars, & campers and travels down South in celebration of the Ute Stampede Rodeo. We stay in a campground in Provo for the weekend and drive to Nephi for the rodeo on Saturday - I Love This Weekend!!!! It's been in a family tradition for years and years; next year I've been selected as one of the reservation/planning people and I'm actually really honored and excited to be able to keep that tradition going. Wish me luck!

We started off the weekend with a little Monopoly - My Dad won this round ... and the next... that isn't really weird though, he ALWAYS wins!!

We're blessed with a most fabulous pool - ok, so we're not really camping... this is my kind of camping! :)

Playin' games - my favorite part of having a ginormous family - we took over pretty much the whole pool!

Smile Fishes!

Look at this bathing beauty!!

I love sitting next to my kid sister at the rodeo! She and I love to elbow each other when a "people watching" opportunity is in sight, dancing to the music, and of course, crying when the National Anthem is played. I love, love, love the rodeo and LOVE that they focus so much attention on the good ol' U S of A!

This year, Kent Lane parachuted into the arena carrying our flag while Lee Greenwood is filling our ears and hearts ... such an amazing experience!!!

Our Military marched into the arena before hand, ready to pick up and hold our flag. Then we're fortunate enough to hear our National Anthem, brings me to tears every time!

Bucking Broncos, Barrel Racing, Bareback Riding, Calf Roping... The only sport WE invented - gotta love it baby!

My husband pretending to have Jedi powers... isn't he just cute?!

I've never actually seen someone play this carnival game, so I was pretty excited when my brother in law said he'd give it a try. I couldn't believe the force he had to put behind his swing, but I decided and he even won!!!

Our weekend getaway abode.

Have to add a shout out to my big sisters - I love you!!!

It was a really great weekend, filled with lots of sunshine (got sunburned again....), great food, family, and lots of fun. I'm excited for next year, however, I'm really looking forward to sleeping in an actual bed tonight! :)

Things I love...

One of my sister's very first blog posts was about things she loved... I'm a pretty pessimistic person (shocker I know) but I thought just maybe if I focused on the happy things in life, I'm might be a happier person... Here it goes!

I LOVE:

to see my husband smile... and when he does things like this that make me laugh uncontrollably! I never knew how important it was to find someone in life who made you laugh and smile until JJ came into my life - now I don't know how I ever lived without it!! He makes me smile constantly and I laugh everyday. I love it and I love him!!

I love being loved. I don't know what I did to get so lucky, but I have the sweetest hubby. He spoils me, he cares about me, he wants to take care of me, he wants to make me laugh and smile, and most of all, he loves me. No.... he loves ME!!! He loves me for me, with all my quirks, bad habits, mood swings (Yes, I do have those, I'm just good at hiding it! :) ha!), high maintenance qualities, etc. All that stuff and he still loves me. Sheesh - I gotta tell ya, I'm one lucky girl!

I love family and friends! Playing badminton in my cousin's backyard with some friends - how cool is it that one of my very best friends, is also family?? I love that!

I love this baby girl! She just lights me up whenever she comes around! It just boggles my mind sometimes that such a little thing can bring such joy. Anytime I get to see her, hold her, hug her, play with her, even just see a picture of her and I've got an instant and constant grin. I love that my siblings have had such cute kids because then 1) I don't have to have them - muahahaha (that evil laugh is for my mom-in-law and 2) I get to play with them and give them back when they get sad and 3) they make me so happy! :)

Last but not least.... I already mentioned having best friends as family (my big sister in this case), this hideous picture is about my weight. Last year my sister and I ate lunch at Eat-A-Burger (oh how I miss thee!), took this picture and went about our day... When I got home I loaded it onto the computer and almost puked when I saw it on a bigger screen!!! Ok, so I didn't really puke but there was some definite gagging going on. I vowed then and there that I would lose weight. I hated getting dressed in clothes that just didn't fit right, I hated my body, I hated knowing I could do better, I hated not having energy... I hated me. It's been a long fight, one that definitely isn't over and will most likely be something I struggle with the rest of my life. But I LOVE that I can say that I've lost 35 POUNDS!!!! Can I have a Woot Woot!?!

Here's a picture from one year since the picture of me and my sister! I've still got some to lose, but come on... I look awesome!!! :) I love that there is an obvious difference, I love that I looked at this picture and didn't immediately find something bad to say about it, I love being skinny!! (skinnier) Never thought I'd use that word in a positive sentence, but there you have it! Hooray for things we love!

And for all 3 of you that read my blog - I love my fans! :)

Happy Birthday AuntiE!!

Happy SURPRISE Birthday to my Aunt Elaine!!! She had absolutely no idea and it rocked to see how blown away she was to see everyone that came, all the work that went into the planning and scheming, and her favorite foods there to munch on. I of course took a ton of pictures... here are a few from the evening!


SURPRISE!!!! Happy Birthday!!! We love you oh so very much!!

Cute little family! (Minus my cousin Sean who had to work :( poor kid)

See what I mean about favorite foods?! This lady has some fantastic taste buds!!

Oh, so fun presents to open!

Pictures of Elaine and her favorite friends and family:

This was the coolest present in all the land... We were asked by the party planning committee to give Elaine a scrapbook page/layout with pictures of her & memories or a note to her, she cried with each and every page! It was wonderful to see her read and acknowledge how special and unique she is. Love you!!!!!

Tears of Joy!!

She's my aunt, my role model, my friend, and most importantly, she's my second mommy. I love her soooooooo very much!! I was extremely grateful and blessed to have spent that evening with her... and so very blessed to have been invited into her home for a great part of my life, to be raised by such an amazing woman and daughter of God. A girl couldn't ask for more!

I love you so very much AuntiE, and I truly hope we were able to show you how much you mean to us!